


Please Reinstall Universe and Reboot

by Thette



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Bittersweet, F/M, I wrote this before the whole Melody debacle, Love Confessions, That time when Rory was missing, Truth Serum, You Me Handcuffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 20:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thette/pseuds/Thette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>History changed when Rory disappeared. Among other things, Amy no longer had kissed the Doctor in a fit of pre-wedding nerves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Reinstall Universe and Reboot

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the dwsanta 2010 fic exchange and originally posted [here](http://dwsanta.livejournal.com/14390.html), also posted at Rosemaryfic on LJ. Written for the prompt: "An encounter (either an argument, a discussion, a sexual encounter) between Eleven and Amy after she forgets Rory that lets the Doctor know that she loves the Doctor (awkward wording is awkward)."

The Doctor was used to keeping different timelines in his head at the same time. He was used to watching history shift, to feeling the threads of might-have-beens and what-ifs unravel and re-knit softly in his mind. This time, it was different. The gash in the weave of the universe after Rory disappeared, his whole existence erased, was close and personal. When he focused on their adventures, he could remember both the version where the brave nurse photographed coma patients walking about, and the version where he and Amy confronted Prisoner Zero in her house. Amy had changed, too. She was superficially herself, loud and outspoken, but there was something brittle in her emotions.  
  
A Bad Thing... No, a Good Thing... No, a... Thing (not a thing which was almost a plan, just a Thing) about their history as it changed around them was that Amy had never kissed him. She was devastated after encountering the Angels, and he took her to Venice to comfort her. No detour to Leadworth, no pre-wedding nerves, no frantic kiss against the Tardis. He touched the red box in his pocket, vowing never to forget, to let Rory live in his mind.  
  
"Always so sentimental," the Dream Lord whispered from somewhere behind him. "I see your dreams. I know that little lonely Amelia Pond is confused, and I know that she still waits for you in her own dreams and in yours. The only difference is that you dream of her waiting in your bed. You've gotten rid of the chaperone now. Splendid work, by the way. Not your fault, and she doesn't even remember him. I couldn't have planned it better myself. Why don't you do what you both want? Oh, I forgot. The Doctor. The hero of the universe, the Oncoming Storm, the Time Lord with the chastity belt."  
  
"Shut up. I beat you. I won. You shouldn't be here anymore."  
  
"Oh, you won, but not in this version of the universe. You'll never get rid of me now."

***

_The swing creaked. Amelia kicked lazily, not even pretending she did it to get the swing moving. She missed the Raggedy Doctor, and wished she had never told anybody about him. Ever since she did, she'd been alone. There should be someone here, someone in the swing next to her, but everyone thought she was crazy._  
  
"Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside."  
  
Amy woke up with a gasp, sweaty sheets twisted around her. She could never remember her dreams, but they terrified her. A cool shower washed the sweat and the fear away. The skirt she chose was even shorter than her usual ones, and she put a bit of extra lipstick on. The Doctor had promised her Space Rio, after he had failed to take her to earth Rio, again. Heels? Better not, there was always running when the Doctor was involved. A planet, today! A real planet, preferably without Weeping Angels. She danced through the corridors to the console room. "Space Rio, Doctor!"  
  
He smiled at her, a grin that threatened to cleave his face in two, and he danced up to her, taking her hand in his. "Space Rio, Amy!"  
  
It was never that simple, was it? They would never get their vacation in the sun with some samba. This time, the planet was in mourning over the dead queen, a squid-like creature with green tentacles and eyes all around her head. The only colour they could see anywhere were the red garlands and flowers for the funeral. Their steps sounded so very loud in the hush of the capital.  
  
The quiet was shattered by marching rhinos. "Judoon," whispered the Doctor. "We need to hide." But wherever they went, the Judoon were right behind them. "They have probably tracked my screwdriver. Stay here, Pond!" He brandished the tool and stepped out in the light. When they caught him and led him away, she ran for her life in the other direction.  
  
She could hear the heavy steps approaching from behind as she turned a corner and ran right into another Judoon. "Na! Blo! Po! Mo!" Her wrists were caught in a strong set of handcuffs. After a short interrogation, during which the black-clad officers assimilated her language but didn't learn much else, they led her to a prison cell. At least it wasn't a dungeon this time. It was perfectly clean and reasonably comfortable. The Doctor sprawled on the lower bunk bed, seemingly asleep.  
  
"Ah, Pond! I've been waiting for you," he said. One second, he was at rest, and the next, he was wandering the cell, talking at his usual speed.  
  
"How are you going to get us out of this?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy..." He spun around, took her face in his hands and tilted it toward his own. "What did I ever do to make you trust me like this?"  
  
"I don't trust you. I know you'll leave me over and over again, and one day you won't come back." She couldn't stop the words from spilling from her lips. "But I can see why you think I do. I love you, always have and always will, so I don't care. It's worth it."  
  
His cold hands held her for just a moment longer, before he withdrew with a start. "Look at my finger," he said, waving it back and forth in front of her eyes. She let her gaze follow his finger to the left, to the right and finally squinting when he touched her nose. He studied her eyes intently. "Close your eyes and raise your hands. Good. Now stand with your heels together. Did the Judoon give you anything?" he asked, when he was done examining her.  
  
"A truth serum," she said against her will.  
  
He leaned heavily against the wall. "You should get some sleep," he said after half an eternity of silence.  
  
"I'll be on top!" She had to be truthful with herself, too. It was a game, to see what of her innuendo he would catch, and this one was a palpable hit. He squirmed, and she started climbing the ladder slowly, making sure he'd see as much as possible of her legs. Was that a faint blush? If squirming was scoring a point, then blushing would be five. She wished she could get him to show her his feelings, but at the same time, she was afraid he'd lose his patience with her attempts at seduction and throw her out.

***

When it was established that they weren't involved in the assassination of the tentacled queen, the Judoon let them go with a warning. He even got the sonic back! They were taken to the Tardis, still in handcuffs. "You, me, handcuffs," Amy quoted at him with a naughty grin.

  
"You like the handcuffs, Doctor," the Dream Lord whispered in his ear. "You enjoy not being responsible for what happens to you. Do you think she still have her police uniform in a closet somewhere? Or do you prefer her tied up, a damsel in distress? Brave knight, I think your armour might be a little tarnished." There was nothing he could say without letting Amy and the Judoon squad know about the invisible anthropomorphic personification of his darker urges. He tried to ignore both lines of conversation, fumbling with the key instead.  
  
The door opened, they were released, and he guided her inside with a hand on her waist. He could feel the tension increase in the muscles of her back, and let the touch linger just a moment, stroked her gently with his thumb. She stretched her neck backwards, and he could reach the ends of her shiny red hair if he wanted to, or lean in to kiss her neck, or... His mind caught up with the situation as he slammed the door behind them. She should have broken the contact now. This was unexpected.  
  
"Well? Have you made your mind up yet?" She leaned into his arm, left hand carefully on his chest, looking up at him with her soft green eyes. So different from the last time she kissed him (only she never did), so vulnerable. So easy to reach for her forehead.  
  
He made up his mind right then, and kissed her on the lips. He'd never forget Rory, but they both needed this. The Dream Lord, for once, kept quiet.


End file.
